During todays class an interesting topic was brought up that I had not interacted with before and wished to connect with in a deeper way than we had been able to during class time. Although the topic that we reflected upon may seem obvious as this course is centred around technology in education, I had never taken a step back and considered the how of teaching students about online safety, especially when recognizing that as educators teaching elementary aged children, there is a wide age range and difference in experience within the students in our schools.

Despite recognizing that their should be a difference between the lessons taught regarding online safety to Kindergarteners vs grade 5 students, knowing exactly what content should be discussed and how it should be presented is a hard task to prepare yourself for. As educators, we will be filling a multitude of roles, and equipping students with an adequate understanding of how to stay safe in online spaces is one of those roles. For me, this feels incredibly daunting, not only because I wouldn’t be sure where to start, but also because I recognize the importance of lessons like this. Not only are we providing students with the necessary online skills that they need to become parts of society, but we are also supplying them with the knowledge to recognize potentially dangerous situations. While looking further into this topic, I found resources such as the following, posted by GCFglobal.org which although containing some useful information, feels, for the most part, dated.

Internet Safety for Kids: Teaching Kids About Internet Safety (gcfglobal.org)

I found that some resources were aimed more towards educating teachers and parents about what children and students are doing online. This guide discusses multiple aspects of online safety such as screen time and cyberbullying, as well as offering recommendations for what can be done to offer support in each of those situations. It also highlights what support can be given by schools.

As I continued to search, I found myself looking more and more for resources teachers could access that would really help them understand what lessons surrounding online safety should look like for different ages of children. Upon this exploration, I found one resource that gave me a clearer idea of exactly what the change in subject matter was amid grades. The link below takes you to an article posted by Erin Wilkey Oh on Common Sense Education that takes you to a page containing lesson plans for teaching online safety split up by grade.

23 Great Lesson Plans for Internet Safety | Common Sense Education